BTG Advisory enhances advisory team with partners

BTG Advisory, has continued enhancing its range of restructuring services and expertise to the West Midlands with the appointment of Vijay Merchant as partner. 

Vijay, who will be based out of the firm’s rapidly- growing Birmingham office, brings almost two decades of experience in business turnaround, restructuring and advisory, with a particular focus on supporting corporates and their stakeholders in stressed and distressed scenarios.

Advising both lenders, including major banks, specialist banks and non-bank finance providers, corporates and small to medium-sized businesses, Vijay provides solutions and implementation strategies to clients. This includes identifying and resolving  short to medium term cash flow issues viaasset-based lending, alternative finance, funds or equity investment as well as considering options for sale or divestment. 

Vijay is also experienced in delivering options reviews, independent business reviews and pre-lend and viability reviews on behalf of lenders and investors. 

This latest appointment continues to establish the firm’s West Midlands offering, with offices in Birmingham, Dudley, Shropshire and Stoke. It follows a series of acquisitions and senior additions to the Begbies Traynor insolvency offering and in particular the BTG Advisory teams across forensics and debt advisory disciplines in the last year. This includes partners Kate Beckett, Sannan Khan, Greg Forde, Nick West and Jack Clitheroe, director’s Katie Alldrit-Rose and Dan Trinham and senior manager Phil Sandland.

Julian Pitts, National Regional Managing Partner at Begbies Traynor Group, said:

“Vijay is another partner that brings significant knowledge and expertise to the growing Advisory offering we are building in the Birmingham office. In the past year alone, the firm has made a significant investment in the team and it is paying off with a wealth of knowledge for clients to lean on.

“Bringing Vijay to the firm not only enhances the team in Birmingham, but also the network and range of disciplines across the UK, giving clients access to more services, but also those within the firm, an even larger pool of knowledge to deliver the best and most successful advice. This is a very exciting time to be part of Bebgies Traynor Group and we believe that Vijay will be an essential part of continuing to deliver success at the firm.”

Vijay Merchant, Partner at BTG Advisory, said:

“I’m really looking forward to getting started as a partner at BTG Advisory. It is clear that this firm has the strength of brand within the market already and its continued high performance for clients is reflected in its results. Despite this already high-profile, I know that I am joining a firm with lots of potential still to fill. There has been lots of investment in knowledge and expertise and having met the people in the firm, I know that the standard is incredibly high. 

“I am excited to be joining BTG Advisory and look forward to being part of growing the already strong presence in Birmingham, which enhances the strength of the network across the UK. Businesses across the West Midlands and nationally are continuing to face challenges given the turbulence and challenging headwinds across the UK and global economies and I am keen to use my experience to support businesses to restore viability and growth and avoid failure.”

Craig Povey, Managing Partner (West Midlands) at Begbies Traynor, said:

“The expansion of the advisory services out of the Birmingham offices only serves to complement the restructuring and insolvency work that the whole of the growing West Midlands team is already well-known for by clients. Begbies Traynor has become the first port of call for many businesses in distress across Birmingham, Dudley, Stoke, Shropshire and the wider West Midlands in recent years and we want clients to recognise that we can also help them thrive and avoid dipping into distress in the first place. 

“Vijay – alongside his Advisory colleagues in forensics – is a talented and experienced operator in this space and we’re all looking forward to our clients reaping the benefit of his advice and guidance.”